Identified! AL - Bibb Co, WhtMal UP13483, 14-17, MVA/hitchhiker, tattoo: RY + LOVE Mar'61 - Daniel Armantrout

[madamx]

I wanted to post the articles in case this link ever goes dead.. as many links have. I have noticed on older threads.. anyway I was just reading the original articles and it says the tattoo or scar letters on the boys arm was R + K and I have been reading other places it was R + Y... I don't know which might be correct anyway Just posting the articles to have on the thread.

I found some newspaper articles with quite a bit of information not in NamUs, including:

- A detailed description of the circumstances
- He had a small crescent-shaped scar on his upper right forehead and a second, 4-inch-long scar on his right calf
- Inside his wallet was a picture of him with a girl, with the inscription "Think of me always and remember how we used to go places together"
- The boy told the driver he was heading to San Diego from the Carolinas. It's worth noting the tax stamp on his pack of cigarettes was from South Carolina
- The inscription on his arm wasn't a tattoo, it was scarification (self-inflicted)

Article 1
Article 2
Article 3

 

[folieadeuxnola]

Thank you madamx


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[Alleykins]

I wanted to post the articles in case this link ever goes dead.. as many links have. I have noticed on older threads.. anyway I was just reading the original articles and it says the tattoo or scar letters on the boys arm was R + K and I have been reading other places it was R + Y... I don't know which might be correct anyway Just posting the articles to have on the thread.

Thank you so much. This is some great new information. Interesting that the marking was listed as R+K. If correct, that's a big difference in letters, IMHO.

 

[madamx]

yes Alleykins I thought it was odd RK as they were 2 different articles..so its not a typo for one newspaper.. Yes it does make a difference.. that could make his name start with a K or her name start with a K.. but again we still don't know.. I really wish they would of printed the photo of the boy and the girl.. I think that would of helped..

Thank you so much. This is some great new information. Interesting that the marking was listed as R+K. If correct, that's a big difference in letters, IMHO.

 

[madamx]

I came across this unfortunately there is no photo but its from January 1960 a missing Boy from Sarasota Florida named Ronald and I think its Ronald Pistol Sales is his name .. the height is off by 2 inches and he was 18 but everything sort of lines up.. Just wish there was a photo of the kid.. I just thought I would share it here

https://www.flsheriffs.org/uploads/star/THE_SHERIFFS_STAR_VOL_3,_NO_11,_JANUARY_1960.pdf

 

[madamx]

I also noticed they don't say what the boy was wearing or what clothing he had or what his bag looked like.. unless I missed it I have not found that information

 

[madamx]

I also wanted to post this article with the photo again in case the link ever goes dead.. hopefully nobody gets upset.. I don't think it looks bad and its the only photo that shows the real boy. Thank you to Ambercat!!!

I was able to locate an article that appeared in the Limestone Democrat (a newspaper from Athens, AL) on August22, 1961 about the unidentified hitchhiker that included a postmortem photo and some information that I hadn't seen in the more modern article or his NamUs page -- such as at the time of his death, it was believed that the youth had artificially lightened his hair and it was naturally darker in color.

Because of the photo, I am going to post a link, rather than upload it here -- http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/q664/amberbluecat/limestdem_aug221961_namus13483_zps6vlayx2u.jpg

I also tried to clean up the photo and make it look a bit less like newsprint (I'm not 100% happy with my editing but it does give a better idea of how the young man looked) -- http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/q664/amberbluecat/namusup13483pm_zps7v9ceuja.jpg

Maybe I am being overly suspicious, but I can't help but wonder if the bleached hair was an attempt to disguise himself. I don't think the "surfer" look had become popular by the beginning of 1961, although I could be wrong about this since I wasn't around at the time. The only vaguely remote possibility that I could find is a Robert Rasmussen who is mentioned as going missing at the same time as Gerald Montrio (NamUs MP # 14586, Robert doesn't have a NamUs page unless it is unpublished) from Plymouth, MA in 1957, yet by 1961 Robert might be too old (and I really have no idea about his appearance).

 

[mrseeker]

I also noticed they don't say what the boy was wearing or what clothing he had or what his bag looked like.. unless I missed it I have not found that information

They said he was wearing long sleeves and had heavy clothing which made them think he was from the north. It was already getting hot in Alabama by that March. So the tattoo was actually a self scarring. I am thinking K is most likely the second letter. K would lead to many more names than Y. I am thinking R is for him but maybe not. We should be looking for a missing boy who's first name began with R but possibly K born in the mid late 40's.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I am thinking K is most likely the second letter. K would lead to many more names than Y. I am thinking R is for him but maybe not. We should be looking for a missing boy who's first name began with R but possibly K born in the mid late 40's.

I had assumed that K was the initial of the girl in the photograph. R + K. They obviously meant something to each other since she gave him the photo as something to remember her by.

It might be easier if it was Y rather than K as there are far fewer female names with that initial letter. From memory the commonest would have been Yvonne, Yvette and Yolanda, all of which had some popularity around the decades he and she would have been born.

 

[Jules Clues]

I came across this unfortunately there is no photo but its from January 1960 a missing Boy from Sarasota Florida named Ronald and I think its Ronald Pistol Sales is his name .. the height is off by 2 inches and he was 18 but everything sort of lines up.. Just wish there was a photo of the kid.. I just thought I would share it here

https://www.flsheriffs.org/uploads/star/THE_SHERIFFS_STAR_VOL_3,_NO_11,_JANUARY_1960.pdf

View attachment 116135

What a good find! Amazing sleuthing.


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[madamx]

Thank you... I just don't know if this Ronald boy was ever found?or even reported missing other than this little newspaper? But he fits the stats.

What a good find! Amazing sleuthing.


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[Alleykins]

Thank you... I just don't know if this Ronald boy was ever found?or even reported missing other than this little newspaper? But he fits the stats.

Bummer, I just looked up the investigator's name, and ancestry reports someone by that name died in 1977, in Sarasota, FL.
It couldn't hurt to call the Sarasota PD to see if they have an old case file on Ronald Sales.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I've flagged this case up to the DNA Doe Project for consideration.

Although it's highly unlikely that either of this young man's parents are still alive, it's very possible that he has siblings, nieces or nephews who are still wondering what happened to him.

There's also the girl whose photo he was carrying. Maybe she's still alive and wondering why she never heard from him again.

 

[Alleykins]

I'm hoping they consider it, even though he's technically a child because his death wasn't foul play.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I'm hoping they consider it, even though he's technically a child because his death wasn't foul play.

Strictly speaking we don't know that he was a child. The age given is just an estimate so it's not impossible that he was 18.

 

[Alleykins]

Strictly speaking we don't know that he was a child. The age given is just an estimate so it's not impossible that he was 18.

But they may consider him a child, it doesn't matter what we think.

 

[leilarose68]

Has anyone reached out to this John Doe's agency? I hope they know about DDP, DDP is so inundated with cases that they don't really reach out themselves anymore I don't think.

And based on the age range and circumstances I imagine DDP would take on his case.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Has anyone reached out to this John Doe's agency? I hope they know about DDP, DDP is so inundated with cases that they don't really reach out themselves anymore I don't think.

And based on the age range and circumstances I imagine DDP would take on his case.

I've not been in touch with the relevant agency since I'm not in the US and contacting them by phone is likely to be pretty expensive.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Maybe he used matches and they just weren't found. Cars had cigarette lighters in them, too.

Just a thought, reading through this again: what if the cigarettes were not for him but to give one to a driver who picked him up as a token of thanks?

 

[leilarose68]

I've not been in touch with the relevant agency since I'm not in the US and contacting them by phone is likely to be pretty expensive.

I just reached out to his agency via their Facebook page as I couldn't find an email for them. Hopefully this goes somewhere!

EDIT: Whoever runs the page has 'seen' my message. Fingers crossed.